Vistara may take some more months to get off the ground

The launch of the much-awaited Vistara, the joint venture airline from the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is likely to get delayed by a couple of months beyond its October deadline due to regulatory approvals.

The launch of the much-awaited Vistara, the joint venture airline from the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is likely to get delayed by a couple of months beyond its October deadline due to regulatory approvals.

The proposed carrier would have to complete various formalities before aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), gives it the flying licence, officials said.

Among the formalities, the plane would have to be painted in Vistara colours. It would then have to carry out a number of scheduled flights before the DGCA grants it clearance to launch services, officials said.

The full-service carrier would also have to prepare the flight, operations and engineering manuals and get them approved by the regulator, officials said, adding that all this would take at least a couple of months.

"Vistara is working very closely with the regulators to ensure all requisite requirements and processes are being complied with," a spokesperson of the airline said.

Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh had said in August that "We are in the last lap of the process of securing the scheduled operators permit (SOP). There are a series of approvals which we have to get to the satisfaction of DGCA."

Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines and the two stakeholders have put in a total investment of $100 million.